Barge interconnection system

ABSTRACT

A system for making up tows from a plurality of barges. The system substantially prevents relative lateral movement between adjacent barges and/or relative movement along a line parallel to the path of travel thereof while allowing certain freedom of movement therebetween incident to changes in draft, etc. The system includes fitting the bow and stern of adjacent barges with first and second protruding members. The first protruding member has a vertically extending slot therein, and the second protruding member or pin is suitably sized to be received in the slot of an opposing first member, i.e., the slotted member of the first barge being confronted with the pin member of the second barge and the pin member of the first barge being confronted with the slotted member of the second barge when the two barges are in alignment one behind the other. Also included is flexible coupling structure which has one portion thereof attached to the first barge and the second portion thereof attached to the second barge. The flexible coupling structure is pulled tightly therebetween to prevent the pins from becoming disengaged from the slots while allowing the barges to freely move independently within limits about their respective longitudinal axes and/or along their vertical axes.

United States Patent 1 Hutto [451 Sept. 4, 1973 BARGE INTERCONNECTION SYSTEM [76] Inventor: Billy D. Hutto, 3455 Knight Rd.,

Memphis, Tenn.

22 Filed: Jan. 31, 1972 21 App]. No.: 221,894

Primary ExaminerDuane A. Reger Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Sauberer Attorney-John R. Walker, 111

[57] ABSTRACT A system for making up tows from a plurality of barges. The system substantially prevents relative lateral movement between adjacent barges and/or relative movement along a line parallel to the path of travel thereof while allowing certain freedom of movement therebetween incident to changes in draft, etc. The system includes fitting the bow and stem of adjacent barges with first and second protruding members. The first protruding member has a vertically extending slot therein, and the second protruding member or pin is suitably sized to be received in the slot of an opposing first member, i.e., the slotted member of the first barge being confronted with the pin member of the second barge and the pin member of the first barge being confronted with the slotted member of the second barge when the two barges are in alignment one behind the other. Also included is flexible coupling structure which has one portion thereof attached to the first barge and the second portion thereof attached to the second barge. The flexible coupling structure is pulled tightly therebetween to prevent the pins from becoming disengaged from the slots while allowing the barges to freely move independently within limits about their respective longitudinal axes and/or along their vertical axes.

6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEI' 4 Ian SIEEI 2 I]? 2 FIG. 5

4g f-l yn FIG.

FIG. 6

FIG. 8 (PRIOR ART) BARGE INTERCONNECTION SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to barge interconnection systems.

2. Description of the Prior Art The usual practice in prior interconnection systems of barges is to attach a male and female member to the stern section and coacting male and female members to the bow section so that the male section on the stern will engage with the female on the bow, and the male member on the bow will engage with the female on the stern when two barges are in alignment one behind the other. This prior system is clearly depicted in FIGS. 8 and 9 of the drawings. Accordingly, in order to have a better understanding of the prior system, a brief description thereof is as follows:

A barge l is in alignment behind a barge 2. The barge 1 has attached thereto a male member 3 and a female member 4 and barge 2 has attached thereto a male member 5 and a female member 6. From FIG. 9 of the drawings, it may be seen that the barge 2 has a greater draft than does barge 1. Therefore, the male members 3, 5 are not received by the coacting female members 4, 6. It should be understood that the male members 3, 5 are spring-loaded to be urged outwardly and are compressed flush with the surface of the respective barge to which attached by the broad surface of the opposite female member until proper alignment between the coacting members is achieved. However, the barges l, 2 must be approximately within 2 3 inches of the same draft in order for the pins 3, 5 to mate with the female members 4, 6. In actual practice, the pins 3, 5 seldom initially mate with the female members 4, 6. Therefore, a plurality of jockey wires or cross-over wires 7 are at.- tached between the barges l, 2 to keep the barges from slipping out of alignment one with the other. The jockey wires include a plurality of ratchets 8 which are used to properly tension the jockey wires 7. Also included are coupling wires 9 which are much heavier gauge than are the jockey wires 7. The coupling wires 9 include a plurality of ratchets 10 which are used to tension the coupling wires 9 in pulling the barges 1, 2 tightly together.

Considerable savings in manhours and clock hours are achieved when the male members 3, 5 mate with the female members 4, 6, i.e., in making up tows by putting the barges together since the cross-over or jockey wires 7 and the ratchets 8 are not required. A typical tow of petroleum and chemical barges comprises four barge units having an over-all length of from 1,000 1,100 feet. A typical lock has an over-all length of approximately 600 feet. Accordingly, it is necessary that the tow be broken up to go through the lock and remade after passing through the lock. The locks on the Ohio or upper Mississippi River are approximately 40 45 miles apart. Therefore, about every 4 6 hours,

it is necessary to break and remake the tow when traveling on these waters. The engagement of the pins 3, 5 with the female members 4, 6 is advantageous in savings of time.

However, when the pins 3, 5 are engaged with the female members 4 6, the entire length of the tow is substantially rigid. This is a distinct disadvantage since barge sections of the tow are subject to go aground at any time. Accordingly, the stress placed on the individual barges exceeds the structural limitations thereof, causing ruptures of the compartments, resulting in the contents of the ruptured barge being spilled into the waterway or river. As a matter of fact, it is widely accepted that the advantages of the pins 3, 5 and members 4, 6 described above are outweighed by the disadvantages thereof. Accordingly, a recent trend is to build the barges without the male members 3, 5 and the female members 4, 6. g

A preliminary patentability search revealed the following U.S. patents: Harrison U.S. Pat. No. 2,431,039; Engstrand U.S. Pat. No. 2,728,319; Archer U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,536; Thompson U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,601; Vienna U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,514; Yamada U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,185; and Kawasaki U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,621. None of the above references show or suggest applicants system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed towards overcoming the disadvantages and problems relative to previous barge interconnection systems. The system of the present invention substantially prevents relative lateral movement between adjacent barge units and/or relative movement along a line parallel to the path of travel thereof while allowing certain freedom of movement relatively therebetween incident to changes in draft, etc. The system includes, fitting the bow and stern of adjacent barges with first and second protruding members, the first protruding member has a long vertically extending slot therein and the second protruding member or pin is-suitably sized to be received in the slot of an opposing first member, i. e., the slotted member of the first barge being confronted with the pin-member of the second barge and the pin member of the first barge being confronted with the slotted member of the second barge when the two barges are in alignment one behind the other. Also included are flexible coupling wires which bindingly attach the barges together. Ratchets are provided for applying the proper amount of tension to the coupling wires to prevent the barges from moving apart, thus preventing the pins from becoming disengaged from the slots while allowing the barges to freely move independently within limits about their respective longitudinal axes and/or up and down along their vertical axes.

From the foregoing, it can readily be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the interconnection system of the present invention obviates the necessity of jockey or cross-over wires and has several other advantages thereto. Some of these advantages are: First, barges having different drafts may quickly and easily be connected one to the other since the length of the slot is determined by the difference in the draft of an empty barge and that of the loaded barge. Secondly, in the event one barge unit goes aground, the entire tow is not placed inundue stress. This is because each individual barge unit is free to rotate about its longitudinal axis. This is achieved by constructing the slots somewhat wider than the diameter of the pins, e. g., atypical diameter for the pins is 12 inches and for the width of the slot is 15 inches. Most of this spacing of three inches preferably occurs on the inner sides of the slots as will be more fully brought out hereinafter. Thirdly, when it becomes necessary to break the tow in order to pass through a lock, considerable time is saved since it is not necessary to put out the jockey or cross-over wires.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view diagrammatically depicting the bow and stern portions of two barge units having the interconnecting system of the present invention attached thereto and being greatly enlarged to clearly depict the structure thereof.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the two barges coupled by the interconnection system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view as taken on the line IIIIII of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view depicting a plurality of loaded barges in tow or being pushed by a tugboat.

FIG. 5 is substantially the same as FIG. 4 except the barges are empty, causing them to stand high above the waterline, showing the end barge adjacent the tugboat turned about, thus presenting a larger area thereof to the tugboat.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken as on the line VI--VI of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken as on the line VIl- VII of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of two barges shown coupled by a prior system well known to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken as on the line IX-IX of FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The barge interconnecting system 11 of the present invention is for interconnecting the how 13 of a first barge 15 with the stern 17 of a second barge 19 as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. It should be understood that the barges 15, 19 are only two of several barges in a tow, as clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 which depict additional barges 19, 23, etc.

The system 11 includes a pair of first configured protruding members 25, 27 fixedly attached respectively to the bow and stem 13, 17, a pair of second configured protruding members 29, 31 also fixedly attached respectively to the bow and stem 13, 17. The members 25, 27, 29, 31 are suitably arranged so that the first protruding member has an opposing relationship with the protruding member 31 and the protruding member 29 has an opposing relationship with the protruding member 27 when the bow 13 is placed adjacent the stem 17, i. e., the longitudinal axes of the barges 15, 19 being substantially in lateral alignment one with the other.

The members 25, 27, 29, 31 preferably are formed from heavy boiler plate steel or the like fixedly attached as by welding to the bow and stem 13, 17 and include structural features yet to be disclosed.

The members 25, 27 respectively are provided with elongated vertically extending slots 33, 35 having predetermined dimensions thereto, e. g., approximately 15 inches wide and 7 feet tall. The protruding members 29, 31 preferably are circular in cross section and have predetermined dimensions thereto, e. g., a nominal 12 inches in diameter. I prefer that the protruding members 25, 27, 29, 31 protrude outwardly from the surfaces of the bow and/or stern 13, 17 a nominal 2 inches, although other dimensions would be equally effective.

From FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, it may be seen that the protruding members 29, 31 respectively are received in the slots 35, 33 of the members 27, 25 when the barges 15, 19 are brought into tow. An important feature of the present invention is that the protruding members or pins 29, 31 may be received in the respective slots 35, 33 irrespective of the relative draft of the barges 15, 19. In other words, the barge 15 may be fully loaded, and the barge 19 partly loaded which causes it to stand higher above the waterline than does the barge 15, but the height of the slots 33, 35 is sufficient to receive the respective pins 31, 29. However, it should be pointed out that the interconnecting system 11 of the present invention substantially precludes relative lateral movement between the barges. 15, 19.

The interconnecting system 1 1 also includes a pair of flexible coupling wires 37, 39 and a pair of typical wire tensioning ratchets 41, 43. The barges 15, 19, etc., include typical timberheads or bits 45 suitably attached adjacent the bow 13 and the stem 17 thereof. Additionally included are typical cleats or cavels 47 fixedly attached to the bow l3 and the stem 17 as depicted in FIG. 1 of the drawings. Accordingly, the preferred rigging of the flexible coupling wires 37, 39 and the ratchets 41, 43 is clearly depicted in FIG. 2 of the drawings, i. e., the wires 37, 39 being attached to the timberheads 45 and one of the cavels 47. In other words, the rigging of the coupling wires 37, 39 is well known to those skilled in the art, i. e., like the coupling wires 9 and the ratchets l0 coupling the barges l, 2 as described in the prior art and depicted in FIG. 8 of the drawings. The ratchets 41, 43 are manually adjusted to properly tension the respective coupling wires 37, 39, thus urging the bow 13 toward the stern 17. In this manner, the pins 29, 31 are prevented from becoming disengaged from the respective slots 35, 33 while allowing certain freedom of movement relatively between the barges 15, 19, i. e., either of the barges 15, 19 is free to move up and down along its individual vertical axis or is free to move rotatably about its longitudinal axis. It should be understood that the movement of either barge 15, 19 along its vertical axis is usually incident to increasing or decreasing the load thereon, i. e., effecting the draft thereof. Further, rotational movement about the longitudinal axis of either barge 15, 19 is usually a result of the tow going aground which obviously causes that particular barge to lift or to tip to one side. In other words, the other barges in the tow remain level obviating any strain on the structure thereof, thus precluding the problem of rupturing the holding compartments.

The rotation of the individual barges 15, 19, etc., about their respective longitudinal axis while the interconnection system 11 holds them in tow is achieved by the following: First, the pins 29,31 have a circular cross section thereto.

Secondly, the dimension of the diameter of the pins 29, 31 is slightly less than the lateral dimension of the slots 33, 35, e. g., as previously mentioned, approximately three inches less.

Thirdly, the members 25, 27, 29, 31 are positioned a predetermined distance outboard from the longitudinal centerline of the barges l5, 19.

More specifically, the beam of a typical barge has a measurement of approximately 52 feet and the length thereof is approximately 250 feet. The vertical centerlines of the members 25, 27 preferably are positioned respectively 23 feet outboard from the longitudinal centerlines thereof. Additionally, the vertical centerlines of the pins 29, 31 are positioned approximately 23 feet 2% inches outboard from the longitudinal centerlines thereof. Additionally, the respective horizontal centerlines of the pins 29, 31 preferably pass through the respective horizontal centerlines of the protruding members 25, 27. Accordingly, when the barges 15, 19 are interconnected as depicted in FIG. 2 and have substantially equal loads or drafts, the respective pins 29, 31 will be substantially midway of the slots 35, 33, i. e., the slots 35, 33 extending approximately 3% feet above and below the pins 29, 31, as depicted in FIG. 3 of the drawings.

Further, the difference in the width of the slots 33, 35 and the pins 29, 31 preferably occurs inboard of the pins 29, 31, e. g., 2% inches between the pins 29, 31 and the structure defining the inner edges of the respective slots 35, 33 and one-half inch clearance between the pins 29, 31 and the structure defining the outer edges of the respective slots 35, 33 when the barges l5, 19, etc., are perfectly in alignment. In other words, the barges will always be within one-half inch of perfect alignment and the space inboard of the pins 29, 31 within the slots 35, 33 facilitates rotation of the barges 15, 19, etc., about their respective longitudinal axes.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that I have secured several advantages over the known prior art. In this regard, it should be pointed out that rigging of the jockey or cross-over wires 7 and the additional ratchets 8, as depicted in FIG. 8 of the drawings, is obviated. This feature alone will be greatly appreciated by those skilled in the art since rigging the jockey wires 7 is a hazardous and time-consuming task which must be accomplished repeatedly as previously mentioned.

Further, it is very important that the individual barges in a tow be maintained in near perfect alignment due to the locks and bridges that the tow must pass through. The interconnection system 11 of the present invention provides positive assurance that at no time will any of the barges become misaligned, i. e., always within one-half inch as above disclosed.

From FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, it may be seen that the protruding members 25, 27 include sloping surfaces 49 along the vertical sides thereof. The surfaces 49 facilitate joining up the tow or mating the bow 15 to the stem 19. In other words, the surfaces 49 act as cams for guiding the pins 29, 31 laterally into the respective slots 35, 33.

Constructing the members 25, 27, 29, 31 from material having the same thickness, e. g., as previously mentioned, a nominal two inches, has at least one advantage: Maximum area contact of the members 25, 27, 29, 31 is achieved. More specifically, the members 25, 27 respectively have outermost planar surfaces 51, 53 thereto. Additionally, the pins 29, 31 respectively have outermost planar surfaces 55, 57 thereto. Accordingly, when the barges l5, 19 are coupled as depicted in FIG. 2, the surfaces 51, 55 contiguously engage the planar stern 17 and the surfaces 53, 57 contiguously engage the planar bow 13. Obviously, as the area of contact is increased, the likelihood of rupturing a compartment is decreased.

Particular attention is now directed towards FIGS. 4 7 of the drawings wherein it may be seen that the bow or knee 59 of a tugboat 61 is engaging the stem 63 of the barge 15, i. e., the barge 15 being one of several, as shown by the numerals 19, 21, 23 and the direction of travel being depicted by the arrow 65. A waterline WL is depicted to illustrate that the barges l5, 19, 21,

23 are loaded in FIG. 4 and are empty in FIG. 5 and for other reasons yet to be disclosed.

The interconnection system 11 includes a third configured protruding member 67 which may optionally be fixedly attached as by welding or the like to the stern of certain barges, e. g., the stem 17 of the barge 19, etc. The member 67 preferably is formed from the same material as is the members 25, v27, 29, 31, e. g., two inch boiler plate steel or the like. In other words, a plane passing through the surfaces 53, 57 also passes through a surface 69 of the member 67. It should be noted that FIG. 6 is substantially identical to FIG. 3 except for the addition of the member 67 In other words, the member 67 is positioned adjacent the upper end of the stern 17 a predetermined distance outboard from the longitudinal centerline of the barge 19, e. g., adjacent the protruding pin 31. It should be understood that the member 67 should be positioned inboard toward the centerline of the barge 19 a distance which will assure that the protruding member 25 of the barge 15 will not come in contact therewith when positioned as in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6 of the drawings.

Since empty barges have considerably less draft than full barges, the narrow stem 63 rides rather high above the waterline WL. Therefore, a standard procedure in pushing a tow of empty barges is to turn the rearwardmost barge, as the barge 15, end for end, as shown in FIG. 5. In other words, the narrow planar stem 63 contiguously engages the upper portion of the surface 53 but probably would be too high to engage the surface 57 of the pin 31. Therefore, in order to prevent canting of the barge 15, the member 67 is placed on the stem 17, i. e., the planar surface of the stem 63 contiguously engages the surface 69 of the member 67, thus keeping the longitudinal axis of the barge l5 perfectly in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the barge 19.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that it is not to be so limited since changes and modifications may be made therein which are within the full intended scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A system for interconnecting the bow of a first barge with the stern of a second barge, said system comprising apair of first protruding members fixedly attached respectively to the bow and stem of said first and second barges, a pair of second protruding members fixedly attached respectively to the bow and stem of said first and second barges, each of said first members having an opposing relationship with one of said second members when the bow of said first barge is placed adjacent the stern of said second barge and the longitudinal axes of said barges being substantially in lateral alignment one with the other, said first members being provided with an elongated vertically extending slot having greater lateral dimensions thereto than the overall lateral dimensions of said second members for respectively receiving said second members to substantially preclude relative side-to-side movement between said first and second barges, said second members being free to slide vertically along said slots, and flexible coupling means having a portion thereof attached to the bow of said first barge and a second portion thereof attached to the stern of said second barge for preventing said first members from becoming disengaged from said second members while allowing certain freedom of movement relatively between said first and second barges.

2. The system of claim 1 in which said first protruding members include sloping surfaces adjacent the vertical sides thereof for facilitating camming said second members into said slots of said first members, said second members engaging said sloping surfaces of said first members when the bow of said first barge is placed adjacent the stern of said second barge with the longitudinal center lines thereof being displaced laterally one from the other a predetermined distance.

3. The system of claim 2 in which said second protruding members have a circular vertical cross sectional shape thereto.

4. The system of claim 3 in which the centers of said first members are positioned respectively a predetermined distance outboard from the longitudinal center lines of said barges and the centers of said second members are positioned outboard from the longitudinal center lines of said barges a distance equal to said predetermined distance.

5. The system of claim 4 in which the protruding thicknesses of said first protruding members are substantially equal to the protruding thicknesses of said second protruding members for achieving maximum barge to barge area contact of said first and second protruding members.

6. The system of claim 6 in which is included a third protruding member fixedly attached to the stern of certain of said barges, said third protruding member being positioned adjacent said second protruding member and having a protruding thickness substantially equal to the protruding thickness of said first protruding member thereon for enabling an adjacent planar surface to contiguously engage the outer surfaces of said first and third protruding members simultaneously.

i t t 

1. A system for interconnecting the bow of a first barge with the stern of a second barge, said system comprising apair of first protruding members fixedly attached respectively to the bow and stern of said first and second barges, a pair of second protruding members fixedly attached respectively to the bow and stern of said first and second barges, each of said first members having an opposing relationship with one of said second members when the bow of said first barge is placed adjacent the stern of said second barge and the longitudinal axes of said barges being substantially in lateral alignment one with the other, said first members being provided with an elongated vertically extending slot having greater lateral dimensions thereto than the overall lateral dimensions of said second members for respectively receiving said second members to substantially preclude relative side-to-side movement between said first and second barges, said second members being free to slide vertically along said slots, and flexible coupling means having a portion thereof attached to the bow of said first barge and a second portion thereof attached to the stern of said second barge for preventing said first members from becoming disengaged from said second members while allowing certain freedom of movement relatively between said first and second barges.
 2. The system of claim 1 in which said first protruding members include sloping surfaces adjacent the vertical sides thereof for facilitating camming said second members into said slots of said first members, said second members engaging said sloping surfaces of said first members when the bow of said first barge is placed adjacent the stern of said second barge with the longitudinal center lines thereof being displaced laterally one from the other a predetermined distance.
 3. The system of claim 2 in which said second protruding members have a circular vertical cross sectional shape thereto.
 4. The system of claim 3 in which the centers of said first members are positioned respectively a predetermined distance outboard from the longitudinal center lines of said barges and the centers of said second members are positioned outboard from the longitudinal center lines of said barges a distance equal to said predetermined distance.
 5. The system of claim 4 in which the protruding thicknesses of said first protruding members are substantially equal to the protruding thicknesses of said second protruding members for achieving maximum barge to barge area contact of said first and second protruding members.
 6. The system of claim 6 in which is included a third protruding member fixedly attached to the stern of certain of said barges, said third protruding member being poSitioned adjacent said second protruding member and having a protruding thickness substantially equal to the protruding thickness of said first protruding member thereon for enabling an adjacent planar surface to contiguously engage the outer surfaces of said first and third protruding members simultaneously. 